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juanpablosans
Community Member

Translation feedback

Hello guys,

 

I hope you are OK. I was wondering if any fellow translator can give me their feedback on Upwork. After several months and several attempts, and after taking the famous course by Danny Margulies, I am starting to think that Upwork is not a good place to find high-paying translation jobs.

 

I have seen people here charging good money on other areas, but then when it comes down to translation, apparently clients like paying 15 USD/1200 words or something like that, which is BS, pardon my French. So, I would like to know your experience doing translations at Upwork and if you have any good hack on how to pitch these guys, a hack that apparently Danny's course has been unable to provide.

 

Cheers

23 REPLIES 23
jr-translation
Community Member

Aim for the clients that are willing to pay for your qualification. There are more than enough good jobs. Ignore the jobs that pay far to little. Clients that are looking for a good translation are willing to pay. Those who aim for underpaid work eventually get what they pay for.

 

It might take a few weeks or months until you have regular work comming in but I started full-time about 6 months ago and I have more than enough work already. 

The "famous course" by Danny Margulies seems to have been extremely well promoted by Danny Margulies. It also seems to have made a great deal of money... for Danny Margulies. I have never been sure why newbies think it is so great; mostly they have come here to the forum to complain about the course.

 

Your mileage may vary.


@Janean L wrote:

The "famous course" by Danny Margulies seems to have been extremely well promoted by Danny Margulies. It also seems to have made a great deal of money... for Danny Margulies. I have never been sure why newbies think it is so great; mostly they have come here to the forum to complain about the course.

 

Your mileage may vary.


 I have yet to come across anybody saying anything positive about this so-called "course". From what I've seen and read about it over a long period, it seems that only its creator believes it has any value. 

petra_r
Community Member

There are indeed well paying translation contracts to be had on Upwork, and you don't need any grossly overrated (insert appropriate term) or any "courses" to teach you how to be successful.

 

I assume you mean the one who, not so long ago, posted a pscreenshot of a contract offer touted as "highest hourly rate on Upwork" as a marketing gimmick, pretending it was something achieved by one of his "pupils" - forgetting to mention it was from him to his employee...

 

Anyway, back to translation:

 

Yes, there are lots of lowballers, but also enough great clients paying fair rates. It may take you a while to get easier access to the latter, but they do exist! If you have the skills, the ability to reflect those skills on your profile, and the salesmanship to negotiate good deals, you can get there.

 

If you have none of the above, no amount of course-taking will make any difference at all.

 

I read about Danny's course when I first joined Upwork. As I recall, it was a link from Upwork that led me there. If the course hadn't been so expensive I might have tried it myself.

 

At that time he was offering a money back guarantee. Maybe you should ask for your money back, Pablo.

 

By the way, Pablo, your profile overview strikes me as excessively sales-pitchy. I personally would find it a massive turn-off. But then I'm not your target audience. And the bit about being so busy you can rarely take on new clients; is that really true, or just a sales gimmick?


@Richard W wrote:

By the way, Pablo, your profile overview strikes me as excessively sales-pitchy. I personally would find it a massive turn-off. But then I'm not your target audience. And the bit about being so busy you can rarely take on new clients; is that really true, or just a sales gimmick?


 I agree with that. I also find the two feedbacks "interesting" .........

 


@Petra R wrote:

 I also find the two feedbacks "interesting" ......... 

Saw that and I... dudo

I'm wondering if it's included in Danny's package, along with the long and boring overview.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless


@Rene K wrote:

@Petra R wrote:

 I also find the two feedbacks "interesting" ......... 

Saw that and I... dudo

I'm wondering if it's included in Danny's package, along with the long and boring overview.


 new freelancer - 2 private / invite only jobs with artificially gushing sounding feedback - I took one look and thought exactly the same as you...

 

This is the second time I see a Danny's follower with suspicious jobs and feedback on their profile. I'm almost 100% sure fake reviews are provided as a service.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

A little googling reveals that most of Juan Pablo's overview is copied from Danny's. But he's in good company. There are many other copies all over the internet. The first line seems particularly popular.

I wonder if Upwork is taking any notice of these suspicions about their pet whiz kid. Are they all about to get zapped?


@Douglas Michael M wrote:

I wonder if Upwork is taking any notice of these suspicions about their pet whiz kid. Are they all about to get zapped?


 No, of course not. Pet Whiz Kids can do as they please, including creating fake jobs and fake contracts and get away with it, being rewarded for their clearly fake cr@p every step of the way.

 


@Petra R wrote:

@Douglas Michael M wrote:

I wonder if Upwork is taking any notice of these suspicions about their pet whiz kid. Are they all about to get zapped?


 No, of course not. Pet Whiz Kids can do as they please, including creating fake jobs and fake contracts and get away with it, being rewarded for their clearly fake cr@p every step of the way.

 


I meant our suspicions/posts. You may have just tipped the balance.

 

;^) 


@Douglas Michael M wrote:


I meant our suspicions/posts. You may have just tipped the balance.

 

;^) 


 I doubt it. They no doubt know, it was all over reddit.

 


I've actually taken the course. 

No, fake feedback is not a service offered by Danny or his team. 

Copying the profile overview is NOT advised at all. 

 

The biggest thing I got from Danny's course: how to view myself, my skills, and my business. 

 

I think it ties back into what Petra said, if you don't have the skills or certain aptitudes (like standing your ground when clients try to lowball you), then no course is going to help you become amazing at the skill you are trying to sell. 

 

Before trying the course, I implemented advice he gave for free on his blog and saw great results. I bought the course and here I am now with a full-time income. 

 

I'm not saying that the course can make it possible for everyone to do what I have done. Not everyone needs to make as much as I need to make (thanks Maryland). I understand my skills and dedication to customer service have done that. But it DID help me. 

 

Now that feedback could be fake or not, but no one offered to write up fake feedback for me so.....

I have not read previous posts, but my short experience has taught me the following :

 

well paid translation are specialised :

 

legal

medical

technical

localization (apps, games)

money making related (SEO, amazon listings, etc.)

 

So if you can provide a portfolio or get some experience in those fields, you can find what you are looking for.

 

Otherwise, general 20 pages translation will never pay.

 

imho

 

It depends on what you mean by 'will never pay'. I've come across 'highly recommended' top-rated freelancers who will simply plonk the texts into Google translate or their twenty-year-old TMS and send you the result without even reading through it. (I had to do the correcting! And some of the errors would have made your hairs stand on end, believe me.) 

In that respect even lowball jobs pay very well. 

 

I don't know why I am not receiving emails! 😞

 

But, what should I do guys? I was thinking of gaining some feedback so I can rank higher, but I cannot afford the time to pitch for lowballs here, as I am busy working for other clients that really pay well. I cannot afford to do a 10USD/hour work when I am doing a 35USD/hour work, if you know what I mean.

 

What can I do? Is there any way I can land a 25 USD/hour work (at least) with little to no feedback?

 

Cheers

 

 


@Juan Pablo S wrote:

I don't know why I am not receiving emails! 😞

 

But, what should I do guys? I was thinking of gaining some feedback so I can rank higher, but I cannot afford the time to pitch for lowballs here, as I am busy working for other clients that really pay well. I cannot afford to do a 10USD/hour work when I am doing a 35USD/hour work, if you know what I mean.

 

What can I do? Is there any way I can land a 25 USD/hour work (at least) with little to no feedback?

 

Cheers

 

______________________

 

If you are doing "really well with other clients", why do you sound so desperate to get a gig on Upwork?

 

If you can't afford to invest a little time on your profile and finding decent clients on Upwork - both of which take time - then  you are not going to find the jobs. This is not a get-rich-quick platform for freelancers. It's hard graft and very few people survive entirely from Upwork earnings. Getting a job is like dieting. You have to find out for yourself what suits your metabolism, and no punter who is getting rich off your back is going to be able to tell you what works for you, any more than the people who tell you you can lose 40lb in a week if you only eat strawberries.  


 

1) I am not desperate at all to work. Believe me, today I had to outsource half of the things I needed to do to free up some space to do more work. I just want to learn to land work here so I can increase my rate and/or delegate more/make passive income. **Edited for community guidelines**

 

2) I can invest time in my profile, and even pitching. I do it every day on a very famous job listing page for translators, with very good results. However, I wanted to know first-hand if I could make good business here, and if you guys have had experience working with hot premium clients here, as, so far, my experience on Upwork has been one of lowballers.

 

3) However, what I cannot invest time in is pitching for people who want to pay you a red coin for your skills, and, evidently, I cannot spend hours and hours working on a project that isn't worth my time just to rank up, as, again, I have enough things to do.

 

Now, with that cleared: what strategies do you recommend? Can anybody tell me?

 

Cheers


@Juan Pablo S wrote:

1) I am not desperate at all to work. Believe me, today I had to outsource half of the things I needed to do to free up some space to do more work. I just want to learn to land work here so I can increase my rate and/or delegate more/make passive income. **Edited for community guidelines**

 

2) I can invest time in my profile, and even pitching. I do it every day on a very famous job listing page for translators, with very good results. However, I wanted to know first-hand if I could make good business here, and if you guys have had experience working with hot premium clients here, as, so far, my experience on Upwork has been one of lowballers.

 

3) However, what I cannot invest time in is pitching for people who want to pay you a red coin for your skills, and, evidently, I cannot spend hours and hours working on a project that isn't worth my time just to rank up, as, again, I have enough things to do.

 

Now, with that cleared: what strategies do you recommend? Can anybody tell me?

 

Cheers


 __________________________

As you are having so much success elsewhere, why don't you apply your own strategies to Upwork? As I said, what works for one person does not necesssarily work for another.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Well,

 

1) On the other page, you can answer questions and they will eventually rank you up. Here, there is no ranking up but in relation to the amount of projects you have.

 

2) That's why my question, again: do I have to rank up by working on low-paying jobs or can I get a 25/35 USD/hour gig here with little to no experience.

 

3) I have been applying the same techniques, but they are not working to me.

 

Cheers

All,

 

A few posts have been edited or removed from this thread for Community Guidelines and the thread has been closed from further replies as it's gone off topic. 

~ Bojan
Upwork